Feng Yu Heng’s Private Army

　　Nobody thought that old third would go down the mountain and do that sort of thing. Li Zhu was so angry that he personally moved to go down the mountain to capture them; however, he was stopped by Feng Yu Heng. She asked Li Zhe: “Will you really be coming with me? Will you give up this residence?”

　　Li Zhu nodded, “I have never thought of living here in the mountains for an extended period of time. It was just unfortunate that we could never find an opportunity. As long as Imperial Daughter will not dislike us, from this day forward, we 100 comrades will be Imperial Daughter’s private army. As long as Imperial Daughter gives the order, even if we are ordered to revolt against Da Shun, we would do it.”

　　“Right!” The people immediately echoed this sentiment, “From this day forward, we will only listen to Imperial Daughter’s orders!”

　　Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Good! Since that’s the case, I will order you to immediately begin packing up your things. Also, go and count the number of horses that are in the residence. Those with families also need to bring along their families. We will be descending the mountain today. The wealth will belong to Ji An Prefecture, and I will decide on how it is distributed. Also, 50 taels of silver will be paid to each household in the village at the foot of the mountains as reparations. This will be paid from the money stored in the mountain residence. Does anyone have any objections?”

　　“No.” Li Zhu shook his head, and everyone else shook their heads along with him, saying in unison: “No.”

　　“Then that’s that. You guys get to work and get to packing.” After saying this, she looked toward Li Zhu and his wife and smiled, saying: “Coming with us is also quite fortunate. At the very least, I can personally take care of providing your injection.”

　　With these arrangements, the 100 soldiers in the mountain residence now belonged to Feng Yu Heng in the blink of an eye. Even Ban Zou had no choice but to admire it. It had to be known that with these 100 people in hand, they now had even more force. Although Ji An Prefecture was Feng Yu Heng’s fief, she herself had never personally managed it. She still did not know what the condition over there would be like. Without some skilled people, it would be difficult to get things done.

　　The people needed four hours to finish packing up their things. Those that did not have families did not have many possessions and did not require long to pack. There were some that had gotten married, and the women were very happy. Hearing that they would be following Imperial Daughter Ji An, they knew that they had finally found the master they had been waiting for. From this day forward, they would no longer need to spend their days living anxiously. Although claiming a mountain as their own gave them freedom, they were not without worries. First, they were worried about the outcome if His Highness the eighth prince would find this group. Soldiers would be deployed to suppress them. Second, they were afraid that the government would suddenly decide to eradicate this mountain residence. Third, they were doing something that could cost them their lives. Who knew if they would attack a true expert and end up being killed.

　　The women followed their men and were not afraid of dying, but those that had children needed to consider more. They hoped that their children would be able to live proper lives. They had waited for such a long time, day after day, until Feng Yu Heng finally arrived. To the people of this residence, it was a day of celebration.

　　The residence had 120 horses, and there were 100 that could be ridden. The remaining 20 would be used for pulling carriages that the women and children would sit in. Li Zhu directed his comrades in bringing out the treasures that had been hidden in the mountains. This filled a total of four carriages. The people happily told Feng Yu Heng that after they had stolen these items, they did not know how to make use of them aside from their necessities, thus they were just stored in the residence. They were thinking that they would hand it all over the day that they could follow His Highness the ninth prince.

　　Li Zhu picked up two bundles of silver and handed them to Feng Yu Heng: “Imperial Daughter, this silver will be given to you to be given to the villagers down below! We really didn’t know that they didn’t dare to come up the mountain to look for food or firewood. It was our fault. Also, with old third’s group doing something like that, they are not fit to follow the group. When we get down the mountain, Imperial Daughter can do as you please to handle them.”

　　Feng Yu Heng nodded and paid close attention to the carriage that Li Zhu and his wife would be sitting in. The inside of the carriage was sprayed with disinfectant and the windows were opened. Only then was everyone ordered to descend the mountain.

　　She spent until the afternoon up the mountain, and they had not eaten anything; however, they did not feel hungry. Their hearts had been filled with emotions, so how could they worry about eating! But Feng Yu Heng also said that it was no good if people did not eat. After all, they needed to continue on their way. They had been delayed today, and they would need to travel overnight. Fortunately, there was quite a bit of food stored in the mountains, and a portion of it was stored in the carriages and brought down the mountain. The majority could not be brought down, and Feng Yu Heng decided to leave ten people behind to keep an eye on it. When they arrived in Hai Zhou, more carriages would be purchased to return and bring it all.

　　At the bottom of the mountain, the villagers watched a large number of bandits mightily come down the mountain, and all of them returned inside the room for fear that they would be hurt. But they never thought that the person to bring down the bandits would be the young miss that had come the previous night, nor did they think that the bandits would begin to distribute money to each family under the orders of the young miss as an apology. Each family was given 50 taels of silver.

　　This much money was enough to provide for these families for many years, and it was even enough for a decade if they spent it wisely. The people did not understand why the bandits would suddenly change their behavior until Li Zhu spoke up as the representative. He told them that there would no longer be any bandits in the mountains, and they would be going with Imperial Daughter Ji An to Ji An Prefecture. They would be able to live righteous lives and live openly. They would be apologizing to the citizens for the previous inconvenience.

　　Only then did the people realize that the young miss that had fought fiercely was actually the famed Imperial Daughter Ji An! Heavens, this was the most powerful person that they had ever seen, right?

　　Thus everyone surged out of their rooms and began to kowtow to Feng Yu Heng. It looked as though they were worshipping a Bodhisattva. No matter how Feng Yu Heng tried to stop them, they would not get up. After this, it was Li Zhu that cleared his throat and called for the people to get up. It seemed that a bandit’s tone was more effective.

　　But the people were very kind. Knowing that these bandits were no longer bandits and had followed Imperial Daughter and had given them so much money, the people were very happy to open their doors. Using the food that had been brought down the mountain, they helped make food for the over-100 people. There were also some women that made some millet pancakes and wrapped them in oilpaper for Feng Yu Heng to eat on the road.

　　Old third’s group remained kneeling and silent, but their eyes were filled with envy and longing. Li Zhu knew what they were thinking and understood why they were in a rush to go down the mountain to steal a woman. He had truly been disturbed by his wife’s illness. Not much of the residence was truly angry. He really understood old third and really wanted to just give him a beating in accordance with the rules of the residence. He would be kept alive, and they would still be comrades, but now that the residence was no more, they were all Imperial Daughter Ji An’s men. In regards to old third’s group, he, Li Zhu, no longer had any right to speak.

　　Xiang Rong sat next to Feng Yu Heng and was drinking congee and noticed the helpless expression that Li Zhu had while looking at old third. She had heard what had happened up in the mountains from Huang Quan, and she felt that these people were not bad by nature, but they had not thought things through carefully. Only then did they make these mistakes. It was not something that could not be forgiven; moreover, her second sister had just taken in these people. If these people were hastily killed, perhaps it would leave a bad impression on these people.

　　She quietly told Feng Yu Heng about her thoughts and did it timidly. She did not have much confidence and was worried that she would make her second sister laugh if she said something wrong. But who knew that Feng Yu Heng would indeed laugh, but she did not mock her. Instead, she praised her: “Our Xiang Rong really has grown up. You’re able to think about things thoroughly. Second sister is very happy.”

　　“Really?” Xiang Rong’s little face was bright red, “Second sister really thinks so?”

　　Feng Yu Heng nodded, “What you said is right. A show of force could be used, but it should not be used in this way. Since these people have already been taken in, they will need to be our comrades in the future. If our comrades make mistakes, we can’t just kill them with a single strike. Instead, they should be taught. Only if the teaching does not work should further steps be considered.”

　　“Then how does second sister plan on dealing with them?” Xiang Rong was very expectant and really wanted to say a bit more, but she was also afraid that she would affect Feng Yu Heng’s intentions, thus she did not make another sound and just waited for Feng Yu Heng to speak.

　　Feng Yu Heng, however, turned it around and asked her: “What does Xiang Rong think? How about you come up with an idea for second sister? Since you also came out, you can’t just be a noble young miss like you were in the capital. You should know that from the moment you set foot in my carriage, it meant that you have become independent. From that moment onward, you need to rely on yourself and need to have your own ideas. You also need to provide a certain amount of contribution to the place that you are about to be living in. We are not going there for fun. Instead, we are going to be building a home. Xiang Rong, second sister hopes that you can come up with some ideas and have the ability to experience it rather than going to Ji An Prefecture to be a doll. That would be pointless.”

　　Xiang Rong felt moved from hearing this. Everything that her second sister had said was what she had been thinking. She did not want to live like she had in the past, thus she convinced An shi to allow her to leave the capital. She wanted to be at her second sister’s side and be someone useful. Even if she could only provide a small bit of help, that would be a change.

　　Thus the little girl straightened herself out and said with a bit of confidence: “Second sister, Xiang Rong thought about it. Just now, sister Huang Quan said that a group of people must be left behind in the mountains to keep an eye on the food. How about also keeping those six behind. At night, they will return into the mountains to stand guard. During the day, have them chop firewood, hunt wild animals then bring it all down for the families to use. Have them use their energy to apologize until the families forgive them. Second sister, what do you think?” After saying this, her eyes were filled with expectation.

　　Feng Yu Heng did not disappoint her and nodded, expressing her support of Xiang Rong’s idea, thus she called old third’s group and Li Zhu over. She then told them about Xiang Rong’s idea, and old third’s group immediately began to kowtow to Feng Yu Heng. While kowtowing, they said: “Many thanks Imperial Daughter for the grace of not killing us. We will never do it again! Would Imperial Daughter please be at ease. We comrades will help these villagers with their work. As long as the villagers need it, we will do any of the tiring and dirty work. If the villagers do not have any needs, we will just hunt and chop firewood in the mountains. All of it will be sent to the villagers. At night, we will guard the food and wait for the group to return.”

　　Li Zhu did not think that Feng Yu Heng would come up with this sort of idea to deal with them. He was moved and told the other soldiers. Everyone was even more supportive of Imperial Daughter Ji An.

　　They remained in the small village until the evening before the group began to set out once more. Because they would be traveling overnight, Feng Yu Heng especially advised each carriage to take out the blankets in preparation. The nights would still be very cold.

　　The group that was already a bit magnificent became even mightier after more than 100 additional people were added. Feng Yu Heng sat in her carriage, and a smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

　　They were about to reach Ji An Prefecture!

　　On the 29th of the first month, the capital received an urgent report that had been sent by the Southern Army and Lan Zhou’s prefect. Gu Shu was collaborating with ten small countries in the desert in attacking the South of Da Shun. The Southern Army struggled to fight back and were gradually losing ground…